I feel like a have something terrible wrong. I thought is was the begining of RLS but why now. It feels like a got things crawling under my skin on my legs and ankles. They almost feel like involuntary muscle twitches and crawly at the same time. I was just feeling it at night when I layed down but sitting here at work, I feel like worms crawling under my skin on my legs. I have also been getting bad cramps on the top of my feet at night also. I feel like I am loosing IT!

Yes. Like bugs crawling under your skin? I haven't suffered from it lately but I'm well into 16 months without a period. But yeah...I compared it to ants crawling under my skin, tingly kind of itchy but the kind of itch you can't scratch.

Welcome to peri menopause/menopause.

I get this as well.It is horrible,especially when you are really tired at night and can not sleep because your legs are jumpy.I have found that magnesium and potassium are excellant for this.Sometimes I also rub my legs with a muscle cream that heats and that helps a lot as well.When it happens during the day just stand up and move around it should help.GOD-bless

Ladies, just FYI, that sensation is called 'formication'.

I think mine is restless legs,but I have had the formication as well,mostly on my scalp-I thought I had lice!!

OK so I hear the word formication and I think some horrible neurological disease like MS. Why do we always thinks the worst

I have these itchy, crawly places too. I have the muscle jumping which is downright weird. Try not to worry.

I hear it and think about dirty deeds(fornication)lol.So funny!!!

Sounds like RLS to me. My mom, sis, and I all have it, and have had it forever. It is annoying, but there are ways to live with it. Magnesium and potasium do help, but what I find most helpful is regular exercise and if it is keeping me awake at night, I get up and stretch out or tense and release the muscles a few times. Helps every time. It really drives me nuts when it happens in the car or someplace I can't get up and move around. But that only happens when I have fallen away from exercise for a while.

I have RLS too with a strong family history. The difference between RLS and the creepy crawlies under the skin for me is this:

The legs feel like they could get up a walk away by themselves, like they have a life of their own. I have also experienced this in my arms or both legs and arms. I think the ants under the skin feeling is very different.

One word of caution for RLS people, be very careful if your doc gives you mirapax (sp?). It alters the brain chemistry and has been known to bring on compulsive gambling and sexual tendencies. It's a very serious drug that is used for parkinson's. I refused to take it after I heard news reports of people becoming compulsive gamblers (with no previous gambling exposure) after they took mirapax. (pls forgive med misspellings.)

For me, besides making sleep impossible for hours on end, it also amps up anxiety and frustration. Mine happens mostly at night, but it has happened on airplanes and in the car. I remember my mother, her father and his brother walking the floor at night with restless legs. I haven't found relief with getting up at night and moving around, my body gets too stimulated and my mind is then activated, but it helps some people.

For anyone out there that finds they can't pierce through RLS and it's very disruptive, a sleep disorder doctor can prescribe meds. Klonepin (SP?) can help. Mine was severe enough (and I did my research) and found real relief with a darcvocet at bedtime. Yes, it's an opiate (on the milder side of the opiates), but it has been extremely effective. Note: I have never experienced pain with RLS, so the goal is not about pain relief.

Needless to say, one must be careful with meds like this. I have kept my dosage very low for almost 10 years now.

A couple of other things about RLS:

Mine started to come on in my early 30's and progressively became worse. My great uncle is almost 100 and he still has it (a very active and healthy person) So, it's a real condition. Since men and women have RLS, I have never attributed it to menopause or originating from some kind of emotional or anxiety problem. It is neurological, classifed as a sleep disorder.

Stoneberry, I agree with you completely, other than we do get the creepy crawlies in our legs also. I've had since my early teens, as has my sis.

My mom did check out several of the meds you mentioned, but decided against those for the same reasons you listed. Thankfully, we have found relief in the items I listed earlier. I guess ours are reasonably mild cases, but it is a nervous disorder - growing up Mom always thought it was a circulatory problem. It took my sis and I doing the research to find the correct info.